The following is an edited excerpt.
Farmers in the UK have welcomed the call for a fresh debate on genetically modified (GM) food but say there is no point introducing the technology unless there is a ‘real’ need for it.
Owen Paterson said UK agriculture was being ‘left behind’ by not introducing GM crops, adding the crops were under so much regulatory scrutiny that ‘it probably makes GMOs even safer than conventional plants and food’.
Yorkshire farmer Paul Temple said Mr Paterson’s ‘visible UK lead’ was welcome, but the blockage remained in Europe.
“Paterson finally addresses the hypocrisy of being GM dependent and yet not allowing the choice of cultivation. “His speech allows us to have a more practical conversation about GM.”
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Mr Temple added some supermarkets’ decisions to use GM feed without any consumer backlash demonstrated a ‘market reality of acceptance’.
Read the full story here: Farmers must see market acceptance over GM
